Three keys: New Mexico State opens Jerry Kill era on ESPN2 against Nevada
LAS CRUCES - All eyes will be on New Mexico State on Saturday in the Week 0 nightcap on national television.
The Aggies open the Jerry Kill era against Mountain West opponent Nevada at 8 p.m., on ESPN2 from Aggie Memorial Stadium.
While it's the first time Kill has stepped on the sideline as a head coach since 2015 (Kill was the interim coach at TCU last year), he has stressed patience in building the Aggies football program. So while Saturday's game against Nevada is certainly not a must-win affair, it's also the Aggies' last home game for a month as they hit the road for three straight games following Saturday's opener.
The crowd should be near a sell out as NM State athletics director Mario Moccia said 14,000 single game tickets were sold through the Stuff the Stadium campaign and as of Thursday night, there were 3,800 tickets remaining.
"If we ever want to be good here at New Mexico State, I keep saying it's going to take a village to turn it around," Kill said. "Las Cruces has been great to me. I just ask them to come out and support the kids."
Nevada also has a new head coach as longtime Wolf Pack assistant and former Oregon assistant Ken Wilson coaches his first game as a head coach. Both teams will have a new starter at quarterback among new pieces all over the field.
"You are not a human being if you are not excited about what your team is going to do," Kill said. "I'm excited no. I just want to see where we are at."
The Aggies were 8.5 point home underdogs on Friday. Here are three keys for the Aggies to spring an opening night upset:
Quarterback play
Neither team has released its starting quarterback, but Nevada will have an experience edge at the position.
Nevada will start either Oklahoma State transfer Shane Illingworth or returner Nate Cox. Illingworth was 3-0 at Oklahoma State and Cox passed for 279 yards with two TDs last year as a backup.
The Aggies will start either junior college transfer and New Mexico native, Diego Pavia, or true freshman Gavin Frakes. Neither player will be asked to throw the football over 30 times as the Aggies new offense will lean on the running game.
"No false start penalties, no pre snap penalties and if we do that, we will be in good shape to win the game," Pavia said. "I feel like up front, we have been very good and we have gotten a lot better and with that, I think we will be excited to run the ball."
Both teams also have new offensive line starters, but Pavia and Frakes are each mobile players who will also contribute in the running game and hopefully take advantage of play action opportunities.
"I expect since we have anew guy back there, I think they will try to get to him as much as they can," Aggies offensive coordinator Tim Beck said. "That is just what you do, but we are absolutely prepared for that."
Jerry Kill said again that he COULD play both qbs Diego Pavia and Gavin Frakes on Saturday but declined again to name a starter. Whoever does will make his FBS debut pic.twitter.com/jwI8h1610T
— Jason Groves (@JPGroves) August 23, 2022
Special teams
New Mexico State should be solid in the kicking game. Kicker Ethan Albertson was 17-22 on field goal attempts and 28-30 on point-after attempts last year, including 3 for 3 on 50-yard field goals. Punter Josh Carlson was just as effective last season, averaging over 40 yards on punts and did not have a punt blocked.
The Aggies have been focusing the past week on special teams, and in a first game with so many unknowns, a big play on special teams could likely be the different.
"I think it will be the difference in the first game," Kill said. "You see more games won and lost in the kicking game in the first week of the season than at any time other than that. You have to be prepared in all situations. We have spent a lot of time in it.
"The biggest thing is the unknown. You get the fake punt in the first game or that type of thing. But your coverage team has to be good. A lot of that relies on the punter and kicker and where they kick it. Your coverage units, you spend a lot of time in situations. ... We have some big athletes who can run so as long as we stay healthy, we should have good coverage teams."
Kill's staff has done a good job recruiting so the Aggies should be athletic enough on their coverage teams to prevent a big return while players such as Jordin Parker, Chris Bellamy, Jonathan Brady and Lawrence Dixon could put the Aggies in a position for the upset with a big punt or kickoff return.
Get off the field
The Aggies most experience players are in the front seven, but that is also where there are five players with either limited snaps or no college experience on the Aggies two deep.
Getting off the field on third down is always an important focus for the defense, but facing a Nevada team that wants to run the football with returning running back Toa Taua (732 yards and six touchdowns last season) and an experience drop off after the starters for the Aggies up front, it could turn into a long night if Nevada gets it running game going against a defense that allowed 196 rushing yards per game last year.
"I'm definitely expecting the the ground and pound, especially with the new coaches that they have," Aggies defensive lineman Lama Lavea said.
"As a front, we have some young guys up there. As far as the ground and pound game, I think our front seven will get it done."
This article originally appeared on Las Cruces Sun-News: New Mexico State opens Jerry Kill era on ESPN2 against Nevada
